Two down, one to go

Published 8:00 pm, Friday, March 1, 2002

Davidson, who played at nearby Catholic Central High School, scored 15 crucial points Friday as the Timberwolves knocked off Findlay, 77-72 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference semifinals at the DeltaPlex.

The Timberwolves (18-10 overall) will play for their first conference tournament title tonight at 6 p.m. against Michigan Tech. The Huskies ripped Lake Superior State, 88-71 in Friday's other semifinal.

It's the second time in three days that NU has beaten a GLIAC South opponent. On Wednesday, NU held off Ashland University in quarterfinal play.

"My first year here, we were picked to win this tournament, and we lost in the first round to Ashland," Davidson said. "This year, my motivation was to beat Ashland in the first round, and we did.

"Two years ago we lost in the second round to Northern Michigan. That motivation came back to get past the second round, and we did. Now my motivation is getting it done. We've never gotten a ring. We're trying to do what no one thought we could do."

A win over the Huskies would give NU an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which begins next weekend.

"I thought we took care of the ball, and we had some guys step up," NU coach Bob Taylor said. "We got some big shots and some big minutes (from our reserves). They're a good team, but I thought our zone defense really helped us."

Findlay, which falls to 22-6 overall, got 23 points and 10 rebounds from Kyle Hunt. Bob Mitchell scored 16 points but just three in the second half.

The Timberwolves got a big boost offensively early from Davidson. Averaging just 7.7 points coming in, the senior guard matched that total in the first five minutes. His basket in the lane with 15:42 left gave the Timberwolves their first lead of the game at 12-11.

"It's all about confidence," Davidson said. "When I was struggling with my shot (earlier in the season), it was a matter of just shooting and not thinking about it. Today it was a matter of do or die. I just want to win."

NU, despite hitting five of its first six shots, still trailed midway through the half. Findlay nailed seven 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes. Marwan Gaines' triple with 10:31 left put the Oilers ahead 25-20.

Northwood, however, stormed back behind Logan. The sophomore scored seven straight points during an 11-0 run. His dunk following a coast-to-coast drive put NU up 33-25 at the 5:20 mark.

After the Oilers got within a point (33-32), NU was able to extend the margin to 40-35 at intermission. Logan was 6 of 6 in the first half for 15 points.

NU maintained the lead throughout the entire second half, although the Oilers crept close several times.

Findlay got within a point twice  the second time at 50-49 with 15:16 left on a Gaines free throw.

But NU had an answer. Davidson scored after a steal with 14:18 left to extend the lead to 54-49.

"Nick made some plays that were just downright gutty," Taylor said. "We just feel really good about it. Carl and Chris were huge, and Dallas was obviously big."

After a back-and-forth stretch, the Oilers trimmed a seven-point deficit to two (66-64) with 2:53 left.

But a layup by Riley and a 3-pointer from the left corner by Logan extended the margin to 71-64 with 53 seconds left.

A 3-pointer by Mitchell and a steal and layup by Charles Warren made it 71-69 with 24 seconds left. But Logan canned four clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

NU's win over Findlay avenged a regular-season meeting in which the Oilers defeated the Timberwolves, 88-72. Friday, NU shot a season-best 60 percent from the field (31 of 52).

"Their trap was effective the first time we played them because we didn't hit our shots," Davidson said. "Going into this game, we said if we hit our shots they're not going to trap us. They didn't trap us very long."